Thursday, December 3, 2009
George has been lame...
I apologize that I have not written a blog in a while. So much has happened in my two months in China, and I really don't know where to begin. All I want to say today is that I have learned much. I feel that in many ways, I have changed. I hope to start updating this blog regularly in the near future.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
trip to china and first impressions
September 29, 2009,
I have been in country for four days now. I no longer think of the types of things I did before I arrived and during my trip. During that period of time, my thoughts were focused on the fact that I was really going to China, and that it was about as real as it was going to get. One of the first surprises I encountered was the fact that we flew northeast to get to China. This means that we went over the North Pole. My first night was a blur. I know that some of the other teachers brought me to a restaurant, and treated me to Tomato fried egg, but I cannot tell you how to get to that restaurant if you paid me. People have been most friendly, for the most part.
Before I left, I was told to expect the unexpected when I arrived to China. It has been the case that I have seen many things that I found worthwhile to note. The three observations I would like to focus on in today’s blog are Chinese nationalism, American influence, and the mannerisms of the Chinese people.
I have found that Chinese people are very nationalistic. This is evidenced by the fact that there are Chinese flags everywhere. I do not feel this is too different than what is found in the US. I think it is similar. I met two young men selling Chinese flags in downtown Baoding, and they seemed thrilled to interact with me. One of the men had his photo taken with me, and they gave me a Chinese flag. Chinese flags are found in the street, and in many of the buildings.
I have found a great deal of American influence in China as well. Many street signs are written in English, which is handy as my Chinese is not that good. I also notice that Chinese clothing resembles American clothing, and many shirts that Chinese people wear have English writing on them. I was surprised when I walked into what would be the equivalent of an army store in the US, and found the vendor selling US Army class A style jackets with 82nd Airborne division patches on its sleeves. I could not imagine an American Army store selling Chinese Army jackets. Much of the music that I hear on the streets resembles American, or western European style music, often having Chinese singers. Because I am a foreigner, most Chinese people are eager to be around me. For the most part, Chinese people seem to like Americans. Chinese people do not like all foreigners; there is a Japanese teacher here that is not as well liked.
Chinese people behave in ways that I sometimes find strange. The streets are madness; there are pedestrians, cars, motorcycles, and bikes going everywhere at once. This makes for a very noisy street. In addition to all these people trying to move from one place to another, there are many vendors in the street. It is not like the US where there is order with the traffic, and most people follow the rules of the road. One of the first things that I saw was a woman wearing a dress and high heels riding a bike. This is commonplace in China. Most people here own bikes that look like they came from a movie filmed during the 1950’s. Sanitation in China is not the same as I have come to expect from living in America. Young Children run around with slits in their pants, so they can go without wearing diapers. People spit and smoke everywhere, and they seem not to care much about keeping their lawns mowed, and trash off the street. I took a stroll through my university, and it looked like the campus grounds have not been tended to in years. It is not like the college where I graduated from, where things are kept well maintained. Sometimes people want to say hello to me, but what I find strange is that they wait until I have nearly passed them before doing so. For example, if I am walking down a street and I pass someone, they will wait until I have walked several yards ahead of them, then they will say hello. Nearly every small child I have seen is shy, this observation brings to mind one of my nieces who was absolutely not shy about meeting new people.
The descriptions I have offered are not intended to be statements of the entire country of China; I have only been in a few neighborhoods of one Chinese city. It is quite likely that other parts of China are not like what I have observed in my short time here in Baoding City. I offer these observations to offer a perspective of what I have experienced in my short time in China.
I have been in country for four days now. I no longer think of the types of things I did before I arrived and during my trip. During that period of time, my thoughts were focused on the fact that I was really going to China, and that it was about as real as it was going to get. One of the first surprises I encountered was the fact that we flew northeast to get to China. This means that we went over the North Pole. My first night was a blur. I know that some of the other teachers brought me to a restaurant, and treated me to Tomato fried egg, but I cannot tell you how to get to that restaurant if you paid me. People have been most friendly, for the most part.
Before I left, I was told to expect the unexpected when I arrived to China. It has been the case that I have seen many things that I found worthwhile to note. The three observations I would like to focus on in today’s blog are Chinese nationalism, American influence, and the mannerisms of the Chinese people.
I have found that Chinese people are very nationalistic. This is evidenced by the fact that there are Chinese flags everywhere. I do not feel this is too different than what is found in the US. I think it is similar. I met two young men selling Chinese flags in downtown Baoding, and they seemed thrilled to interact with me. One of the men had his photo taken with me, and they gave me a Chinese flag. Chinese flags are found in the street, and in many of the buildings.
I have found a great deal of American influence in China as well. Many street signs are written in English, which is handy as my Chinese is not that good. I also notice that Chinese clothing resembles American clothing, and many shirts that Chinese people wear have English writing on them. I was surprised when I walked into what would be the equivalent of an army store in the US, and found the vendor selling US Army class A style jackets with 82nd Airborne division patches on its sleeves. I could not imagine an American Army store selling Chinese Army jackets. Much of the music that I hear on the streets resembles American, or western European style music, often having Chinese singers. Because I am a foreigner, most Chinese people are eager to be around me. For the most part, Chinese people seem to like Americans. Chinese people do not like all foreigners; there is a Japanese teacher here that is not as well liked.
Chinese people behave in ways that I sometimes find strange. The streets are madness; there are pedestrians, cars, motorcycles, and bikes going everywhere at once. This makes for a very noisy street. In addition to all these people trying to move from one place to another, there are many vendors in the street. It is not like the US where there is order with the traffic, and most people follow the rules of the road. One of the first things that I saw was a woman wearing a dress and high heels riding a bike. This is commonplace in China. Most people here own bikes that look like they came from a movie filmed during the 1950’s. Sanitation in China is not the same as I have come to expect from living in America. Young Children run around with slits in their pants, so they can go without wearing diapers. People spit and smoke everywhere, and they seem not to care much about keeping their lawns mowed, and trash off the street. I took a stroll through my university, and it looked like the campus grounds have not been tended to in years. It is not like the college where I graduated from, where things are kept well maintained. Sometimes people want to say hello to me, but what I find strange is that they wait until I have nearly passed them before doing so. For example, if I am walking down a street and I pass someone, they will wait until I have walked several yards ahead of them, then they will say hello. Nearly every small child I have seen is shy, this observation brings to mind one of my nieces who was absolutely not shy about meeting new people.
The descriptions I have offered are not intended to be statements of the entire country of China; I have only been in a few neighborhoods of one Chinese city. It is quite likely that other parts of China are not like what I have observed in my short time here in Baoding City. I offer these observations to offer a perspective of what I have experienced in my short time in China.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
first blog entry
Hi guys, I am in China now, and they treat me real well here. I have an awesome apartment, and people have been very helpful to me. I don't start teaching my first class for about 10 days to give me time to adjust. If you log on, please send me a message on Yahoo messenger or something. I found that I can log onto myspace and flickr, but not facebook, blogger and some others. I forgot to bring my plug converters, so I am using the pc that they gave me for the time being.hope to talk soon.oh, and there are a lot of really strange things to talk about.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
- ?? into trip
My departure time is uncertain at this point. It is extremely unlikely I will be able to leave for China in August, and it is unclear of when I will be able to do so. I will continue to update this blog as I get new information.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
- 39 days into trip
I feel a bit nervous, I have not received my letter of invitation to do work in China. I cannot get a visa until I receive such paperwork, and I already bought my plane ticket. As each day passes without the paperwork, my anxiety increases. I don't want to bother the career services people, as I know that they are already doing their best to get it, but it is a source of stress for me.
My Chinese studies are going well (details of which is given elsewhere). That's all for now.
My Chinese studies are going well (details of which is given elsewhere). That's all for now.
Friday, June 12, 2009
First Post
Hello everyone,
I just started a blog in which the main point is to communicate my experience during my China adventure to those who are interested in following it. The current title of this blog is 'Amesbury George's China Adventure', and it may change. I learned recently that there is not another approval process necessary for the China teaching opportunity, so therefore I will be going. It is a matter of packing everything I own, and selecting a bare minimum to take with me to China.
Currently, I am in West Virginia on a return trip from a family visit to Georgia (mostly) and Florida. It was a good visit overall, but it is in the back of my mind that I will eventually be leaving for nearly a whole year. While down south, I met two people who are interested in following my progress, which was a significant reason for me to do this blog. It would be too overwhelming to attempt to send individual emails to all interested parties. I am going to do some updating for Facebook, but I feel that I would rather make detailed blog entries.
If you are one of the people who are interested in charting my progress while in China, I encourage you to become a follower. Provided that there is some interest, I will make regular entries. I also have a blog specifically dedicated to my Chinese learning, so the record of my attempts to learn Chinese will not be accounted here. I also have a flickr account where I plan to load most of my photographs, so I will load very few here. Here are the relevant links;
Chinese learning blog -
http://amesburygeorgechinesestudy.blogspot.com/
General blog to things not related to China -
http://bigblueeeee.blogspot.com/
photography of Chinese and non-Chinese stuff-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gcharestiii/
Thanks for your attention, and have a nice day.
I just started a blog in which the main point is to communicate my experience during my China adventure to those who are interested in following it. The current title of this blog is 'Amesbury George's China Adventure', and it may change. I learned recently that there is not another approval process necessary for the China teaching opportunity, so therefore I will be going. It is a matter of packing everything I own, and selecting a bare minimum to take with me to China.
Currently, I am in West Virginia on a return trip from a family visit to Georgia (mostly) and Florida. It was a good visit overall, but it is in the back of my mind that I will eventually be leaving for nearly a whole year. While down south, I met two people who are interested in following my progress, which was a significant reason for me to do this blog. It would be too overwhelming to attempt to send individual emails to all interested parties. I am going to do some updating for Facebook, but I feel that I would rather make detailed blog entries.
If you are one of the people who are interested in charting my progress while in China, I encourage you to become a follower. Provided that there is some interest, I will make regular entries. I also have a blog specifically dedicated to my Chinese learning, so the record of my attempts to learn Chinese will not be accounted here. I also have a flickr account where I plan to load most of my photographs, so I will load very few here. Here are the relevant links;
Chinese learning blog -
http://amesburygeorgechinesestudy.blogspot.com/
General blog to things not related to China -
http://bigblueeeee.blogspot.com/
photography of Chinese and non-Chinese stuff-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gcharestiii/
Thanks for your attention, and have a nice day.
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